Artemis Maia
by Dark Rae Reborn
Summary: A mutant woman, descendant of Wolverine. A Predator, a Yautja. Xenomorphs, Kiande amedha. Adventure, suspense, betrayal, and love? Earth dies, but who knew the Yautja were waiting, to save the human race from genocide. Most humans and mutants go to a new planet designated and given by Yautja, but what of the one who has proven worthy the path and honor of the Yautja warrior way?
1. Prologue

"Hello everyone! Just a heads up that this is a rewritten story from my prior account Dark Rae. Unfortunately, I lost the ability to log into it or reset my password (I used my facebook to log in and once I got a new computer I was never able to get back in) but have no fear! I won't forget this one. I'm well prepared, are YOU!? Hahaha I'm weird, anywho, enjoy!  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

/-`|- Prologue. -|'-\

Smoke filled the absences of luminescent green splatters among the limp, dead Yautjas in the corridor. A few were slumped against the walls, others in a vaguely discernible heap of bright green blood and a viscous liquid of a cloudy yellow color. The sirens wailed and echoed throughout the Yautja ship. Red letters flashing, sparks flickering from the back of the corridor, creating the ambience of death and destruction. She recognized the crew, scattered about, gashes, claw marks, and shredded flesh by monstrous teeth, covering their bodies nearly completely. Only two of the crew, excluding herself, were unaccounted for.

Artemis warily stepped over the once brutish R'roark. His burgundy stripes that once stood vividly against the ivory cream of his skin, bathed in green and brown slime. Only his decorated tendrils gave way to his identification. She shuddered, making her way to Thorakk's quarters, accounting for each member of her crew; Truv'ah, Shinzo, Kat'rrak, Grakk, K'jon…

"Kielithk! That cowardly fuck-"

Though she was grateful not to see Thorakk among the fallen, she knew Kielithk had to be responsible for this. He managed to drag a whole, dead Kiande Amedha onboard after the hunt. It was unnecessary to bring the entire carcass of such a creature, for the head was enough to suffice as trophy. However, the pitiful coward manage to sway the mighty head Yautja of the ship to allow him to use it as a whole trophy since it was the only kill he managed this Hunt. Anger and fear pumped through her blue veins.

She froze, instinct and adrenaline engaged- lashed out with her claws. Her impulsive move slashed the black serpent free of it's inner mouth and lower jaw. It reeled back in both shock and pain. Acid blood fizzled out, flooding into one of the pools of Yautja blood on the floor. Before she could think to check her hand or claws for any of the fizzling goop, a hiss radiated from behind her. As fast as she could spin around, she did not raise her hands in time to defend the strike. Ripping of flesh followed the demon's claws, sending her red blood spewing from her blue veins across the right half of her chest and that shoulder. Gasping, she screamed and drew her blades from her wrist. She swept up and brought her two gleaming blades on top the creature's head. It's life spewed from it as it did it's acid blood, collapsed into a heap on the floor.

The now near mouthless, repulsive serpent that had withdrawn, lunge for her. She leapt up, bringing her feet over her head, landing herself on the bio-armored being. In on fluid motion, she slit her blades through it's neck, and launched herself to the metal door. Fresh air seemed to burst forth as the metal door slid open. Breaking her dash, she skidded to a stop. The metal door closed violently, in a way with much more force than necessary for it. Her long, strawberry blonde dreads swung around her as she searched the room for any sign of Thorrak. Once she came into view of his bedding, a dark mass stood and the foot of the fur covered bed. The lights provided little visibility, for they were dim, and flashing. In the darkness, she could make out that the dark silhouette was facing away from her, light barely illuminating the Yautja dreads.

"Th-Thorakk?" She softly spoke, in a way that was even unfamiliar to her.

She was hesitant in her approach. Perhaps because she was astonished he was in his room and had not left to fight the hideous, black demons in the ship. A hiss cracked from the silent figure. A black, bladed tail flicked in the air behind him. Artemis stopped as his figure shifted and turned, slowly, menacingly.

The beastly shape drew in a sharp breath at the completion of it's turn, face to face with the mutant female, and hissed a rumbling growl. Other hisses and shadows filled the room around her. Artemis drew her other two blades and initiated the first strike. The dark, Yautja-like hand caught her mid-strike. She lashed with the other two blades and the hybrid abomination caught it. She kicked it's knees and diaphragm where she thought it might be in attempt to break free, but failed for it barely lost any balance. The creature possessed every bit of Thorakk's strength, her efforts were all in vain. He dragged her squirmy form in close, the shadows and hisses encircling them. Outmatched in strength and in numbers, her hope dwindled beneath terror, anger was long gone. The monster locked her arms between his body and hers, restraining her against herself. With unparalleled strength, it kept her pinned with one arm, using the free one to guide it's hand to the back of her head. The claws dug in as the giant hand cupped the back of her head, seizing her and pulling her head back. Eyes locked on the horrid face, she watched the inner mouth slip out from behind it's mandibles that opened like a 2-door gate. Over the creature's shoulder, a creamy, pink, scorpion tailed-like spider crawled up and over. The flesh colored legs danced as it prepared for it's jump.

"No….No. NO!" She screamed, clenching her jaw shut.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 **Vision**

The rumble of the electromagnetic pulses ravaged Earth to her very core. Yosemite National Park bubbled in seas of scorching red and black. Smoldering skies cast an unforgiving gray over the redwoods. The once mighty beings contorted by the horrific blasts that pummeled them relentlessly. North America was hardly discernible from the heavy ash and smoke polluting the atmosphere. The ground shook with it's seemingly own, unique chapel rage, dividing itself.

Cracks of a hateful, glowing red ripped through the northern hemisphere. The waters of the oceans flooded into the land as a churning, viscous black. No mercy was given by it, consuming everyone in it's path.

Populations of the east were buried in plums of fiery, grey ash that hungrily enveloped the land beneath it. Streaks of a cold white arched out of the planet and came down, spearing itself with missiles that exploded on each impact.

Artemis drank in the horror with her eyes as she floated above Earth itself, watching it burn. She felt herself begin to fall toward the calamity below. Gravity pulled her hard, like a shot from a sling. Her body felt hot in the fall and she let out a scream.

The woman hit the cold, hard floor, sweat pouring from her skin. Blue satin sheets followed her down, tangled up with her. Short of breath, Artemis sat up, shaking and burying her head in her hands.

"That's the fourth fucking night in a row I had that dream." She thought to herself.

She gathered the sheets around herself and stepped into the full moonlight shining in through her curtainless window. In the reflection of the window, the light of the moon bathed her tan skin, giving a glint to the now cold sweat upon it. Upon cracking open the window, air rushed in, greeting her warmly with the scents of first blossoms of spring. It flowed through her strawberry blonde hair, causing it to swirl about her, and slowly cascade down to her hips. Her vibrant green eyes drank in the light from the moon.

"At least you're happy tonight…. Or is it morning?" She said to the moon.

With a sigh, she caught the red numbers projected on the ceiling above her bed; 0432. She cast the sheets back on the bed, damp with her sweat. A few light taps on the glossy, black panels in the wall brought a sleek drawer forth, containing running gear. In moments, she had her ponytail drawn back high on her head, her phone on her arm, the compact Bluetooth Spider Bug in her ear and was out the door.

The sun seemed in no hurry to rise after sprinting her 3rd mile. Begrudgingly she had slowed to a jog due to the stiff and cold adamantium joint that was her knee. A shift in the shadows caught her eye to the right. Knowing all too well how the 22nd century world was, the ever present dangers still remained. The old, transplanted trees creaked out moans ushered by the wind, yet not one bird made a sound.

"Hmm, perhaps a little parkour is in order for today." She grinned.

Fiercely, she dashed through a perfectly green yard. Moonlight did little to cast it's glow through the heavy leaved trees, though the lack of that light didn't hinder her much, if at all. Using her hands as leverage, she leapt over an eight foot tall fence. She sprinted into an open street and bound gracefully over the roof of a sleeping hover car. Skirting to her right, she scaled the wall of a grocery store. Pain rang from her metal tibias, but she pushed forward. She leapt from the building into the broad branches of a tree that was ten feet away. Only nature's scent carried in the wind while she climbed down the tree. Only a block away was her home.

New light broke into the sky from the sun a moment before 0600. Dawn made it's full approach while Artemis did her cool down, walking back to her house. The cool sensations from her adamantium bones tingled her muscles. Her forearms did not seemed to be as bothered by the metal within them. Perhaps it was due to the manner of haste the Weyland surgeons "replaced" those bones. She couldn't help but wonder, if it would ever feel right.

She had. Yet to shake the feeling that someone was following her, or simply observing her, despite the lack of seeing or smelling anything. A sudden rustling sound broke her concentration. Artemis looked over her shoulder. A shift in the shadows, a couple hundred feet away, flash yellow eyes. She blinked in a somewhat disbelief and dashed towards it. Her heart thumped with excitement and anticipation. Once there she searched for tracks, other movement, or even a scent. A few moments passed and nothing.

After a huff in frustration she crossed the street back to her home. The early morning sunlight bathed the little country neighborhood. She tapped in her code on the door lock as the morning patrol car glided by. Another irritating fact, to her, to the now modern day. Perhaps it was due to the fact she seen the transitions over the years, many years. Average middle class citizens still drover rubber to pavement cars while the upper class, city officials, government and so on, had the clean fuel burning hovers. Poverty, hunger, and the homeless still existed, still struggled… and she was considered the upper-class.

Is it better than what it was a hundred years ago? Two hundred? Maybe, but the fact remained: The human race had advanced but not evolved. Well, that wasn't entirely true, there were still mutants popping up, super humans, and meta humans. All in all, mutants were the lucky genetic spike that the human race needed but was shunned for so long. World War III was the time more mutants came out than ever before, saving the world. Unfortunately, tensions still rose between countries, a reason Artemis was on a 'temporary retirement'. It had been 7 years since they let her last leave the country. 7 years of a stifling peace, of quiet, of routine, of… boredom.

Hot steam filled the bathroom while she shed her clothing. Seven years and all I want is some damn local German village beer. The heat from the water felt amazing as it warmed her adamantium bones. Her regenerative abilities were not as astounding as her grandfather's was. Though, she wondered if the adamantium was really necessary to replace the bones, or would she, given the chance, been able to grow them all back over time? Plates on the shins, a full adamantium knee, knuckles casted in it, as well as her claws. She wanted to be back to 100% after that incident. Is she truly better than a 100% now?

Be careful what you wish for.

She was free, though she was always at their beck and call. Still, she had to wonder how 'free' they told her she was. Did they even know how free she could be, or should be? The water automatically shut down as she stepped out. With a soft whir, the fan kicked on, ushering warm directly on her, blowing away the moisture. To her, it was still odd drying off this way, automatically, towel-less. She shivered as her skin prickled, the last of the moisture lifted away by the little air current.

"Towels? Who needs towels!?" She boasted to herself in amusement.

Sure, it had been 40 years since she really known anyone to use a towel stepping out of the shower. Only old hotels and 'old school housing' really needed them since the sophisticated and expensive technology was absent from these structures. Most could not afford to accommodate to the change. Still, for her, the habit of drying off with a towel for so many long years made her reminisce, occasionally burying her nose in the fresh scent of a towel.

Some days were hard navigating through her late best friend, Marie's, home. Marie continued to age while Artemis stayed the same. The toll of fighting in World War III was great on her best friend's body. As Marie grew older, her bones became brittle, breaking more often, healing even slower. Radiation ate away at her immune system during the war, sickness coming to her easily. Her own powers took their toll on her body and her mind, breaking her down even faster as her they never ceased to grow. Unfortunately, only a few mutants and meta humans that fought in the war were unaffected by it's ravages. Perhaps that's why she preferred to be alone. It was painful to watch her best friend's life be so short and her death took so long, she couldn't fathom going through that again.

Artemis was alone, her grandfather was gone before she came into the world. Her father was MIA in WWIII. Her mother may likely be dead as well, though she couldn't be sure, or couldn't accept it. The human race destroyed half of it's world population, mutants and the like among them. So many lives lost over the arguments of who owns what, who owes what, what one can and can't do, and everyone wanting control. After such a war, one would think there would be peace, but bitter resentments kept the world divided still.

With a strong inclination from the fore front of her mind, Artemis gathered the strands of her hair with a French braid. It was a thick, dense braid, that looked almost whip-like as it fell, dangling above her hips. She dressed in her black active wear, support where she needed it, at the bust. It wasn't something she minded at all. Her ideal size gave her advantages when working under cover, more easily catching the eye which normally sparked conversation without any need for suspicion. The breasts weren't too big to interfere with her physical performance in her line of work. She was content with the size, knowing to never complain, for many other women would kill a few to be 'just right'. However, her days of playing undercover came to an end after the event that changed it all. She delicately traced the two simplistic yet significant depressions on her cheek bone. Part of her wondered how few mils were left of her skin before reaching the muscle. Some days, she could still feel the acid covered claw pushing firmly, and deeply, into her skin, with the precision of a surgeon in the form of a perfectionist. Keli'mauv did it twice, the first mark parallel with the ground and the second perpendicular and slightly curved beneath it. The recollection of watching the soon after implosion brought out a sigh. He, the Yautja, died honorably.

Artemis slipped on a cotton-spandex lined Kevlar woven shirt. The dark material gave off an almost satin sheen as it's warm black color intermingled with the neutral black tones of the spandex and cotton blend. It was somewhat breathable and fairly comfortable. Her jeans were of similar build, taking on more of a mud-brown tinge. To her, it looked as if they were washed in blood, left to sit and stain the material. The material was darker around seams and in areas where more flexibility was needed. She reached for her boots, pausing in the action, then her phone rang. Dropping her outstretched arm to the side, she then answered the call.

"General!" She greeted with her knowing voice, almost smirking.

"Greetings, Lieutenant Colonel Howlette."

She slipped on her tags while he paused. He continued;

"I'm sure you've been expecting my call all morning?" In a way that was more of a statement than an inquisition.

The strawberry blonde glanced up at the numbers projected on the ceiling; 0630. With a couple taps on it's screen, the phone deployed a magnetic field, floating away from her with the colorful magnetic dust floating on top of it. The device levitated in front of her, camera lens facing her. The image of a blonde haired man in dress blues formed.

"On the dot, General." While the camera focused in, it fed the imagery to the General's device to perform the same procedure on his, "Tell me, what do you have?"

"Remember what we had in New Zealand 13 years ago?"

She fought against the flood of emotions and memories that threatened to show on her face.

"I haven't had a bullet put in my head," pushing away other thoughts, "So yes, I remember it all."

"Howlette… " he warned, catching her joke, "I need you here at head quarters at 0800 sharp!"

"A nearly 3 hour trip in 1 hour and a half… Oh, you know. How I love a challenge, General."

"Less time now, Lt. Colonel. Get a move on it!"

"Yes, sir!"

Before she could grasp her phone, he smirked. "And keep them damned dog tags on you at all time Maia."

She grinned, stifling a chuckle, "Yeah, yeah brother."

He turned and waved a hand, the colorful image dissipating by his command.


	3. Chapter 2

The dawning sun smiled at itself in the glossy reflection of the motorcycle's paint. With a gentle roar, Artemis fired up the bike. "A single seat, no room but only for me." She continued with donning her jacket, gloves, and helmet, all white with silver accents to contrast the black of the bike. Grabbing the bar ends, she uprighted the bike, allowing the automatic kickstand to retract itself, and walked the bike out of the garage. Artemis swept her leg over, her armored boots showing a little wear and tear from dragging corners, white, black and silver themselves. She tapped the device on her wrist that closed the garage and engaged all alarms.

Artemis looked down to check the temperature of the bike, assuring herself it was fully warmed up and ready. She flipped down her tinted visor, and with no cars or pedestrians in sight, ripped out of her driveway. Once on the street, she couldn't help but drop a gear and twist the accelerator just enough to bring the old sport bike into a wheelie for the remaining straight stretch. The road started to curve and she eased the bike back down and carved the corners with the tires of her bike. She went faster, the faster she went, the more she had to lean the bike, though once she started dragging her boots and knees, she knew to ease up, and rode all the corners like so.

The road unwound itself, becoming a 70 degree angle to merge with the interstate traffic. Smooth and fluid was the process as she merged in, quickly maneuvering over to the emergency traffic and carpool lane. Flipping on her red and blue flashing lights, she gave more twist to the throttle, using every gear the machine was built with, and tore down the road.

Traffic moved well today, cars yielding to her as she flew by. The clouds were scattered through the sky, the gorgeous reds and pinks melting away as the sun continued it's rise from the dawn. Birds flew gracefully over head, planes navigating further above them. Temperatures were in around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, the air was neither too humid or too dry. A cooling breeze fluttered through all the trees, bushes, and flowers. Artemis absorbed the beauty of what was around. Cars hovered and drove down the roads, the middle class and upper class using the same roads despite how different their lifestyles were. She gave only a small thought of skipping out on work but she knew, when a reason wasn't given right away, that it was something extremely serious, and was wise enough not to ask.

'/ \'

"0756." She told herself after checking her watch. The elevator seemed slow after she darted into the underground parking, shut down the bike, and dashed for the elevator. A dark glassed building with 24 floors and she need to be on floor 21, in the conference room, seated and ready. Each floor dinged softly as the elevator whisked her up. Luckily most didn't start work until 9:00 am and the elevator passed each floor, uninterrupted.

The metals doors slid open, her helmet hanging on her arm by the chin strap, her keys in hand, gloves tucked inside, jacket unzipped, and there stood her blonde haired brother in the hallway smiling, hands clasped behind his back.

"You don't know how to disappoint me, do you, sis?"

She smiled and embraced him with her one empty arm. "Oh you know, I can't back down from a challenge, my brother General now."

They laughed and walked in pace, side by side, to the conference room. When they stepped in, a tall, dark skinned man, hairless as could be, but with a goatee that would make any 20- something year old jealous, followed after.

"Well if it isn't my favorite Lt. Colonel Howlette and the General." Razz said in his gruffly voice, in his own cheerful way, "It's good to see you!"

They grasped hands in greeting.

"My old friend," beamed Artemis.

The three gathered at the long conference table and before taking their seats, the last 2 walked in. A tall, square chinned man strolled in of a medium build, his dark blonde hair streaked with silver and dark grays, and fine lines around his brown eyes deepened from age. He grinned and confidently continued his stroll to his place at the table, followed by a slightly shorter man of dark brown hair, thick, cut short and clean, long sideburns and a goatee all accompanied by icy blue eyes. This last man took his seat by Artemis and greeted her.

"Artemis, it's good to see you and us all together again."

"Yes, Michael," she smiled, "It would be better at a bar though!"

The crew laughed, the aged blonde man passed a lingering glance towards Artemis, and she ignored it. Michael gave an uneasy one, knowing well the reason for her sudden discomfort since they walked it. He felt guilty that he wasn't here before Kyle, the only mutant here who's age was showing, the one who should have died trying to save her husband. No man left behind. Michael thought to himself, recounting all the times they saved each other's asses and Kyle didn't go back to save Devin, but it was debatable, and eye witness accounts no longer held much stability in the courtroom.

" _Devin, we gotta get to the base! We don't know what we're dealing with. We NEED more ammo!" Machine guns rapidly fire, Artemis recaptures her breath. "They're relentless."_

" _We got this, we can do this, babe!" A crew cut raven black haired Devin winked at her with his green eyes. "We made it through World World three, didn't we?"_

 _She smiled as she checked her ammo, "We did but we knew our enemy then and we were prepared. I'm out!" Artemis slung her automatic rifle over her shoulder so that it rested on her back, out of the way and pulled her grenade belt off. "Babe, we haven't got a clue about our enemy…" she pulls a pin from a grenade, "They're not like any we've ever face!"_

 _The grenade flies out into the air, barely visible in the twilight of the night, "You know she's right, man." Razz ducked his head when the grenade went off. "On a serious note, we gotta get back to that base!"_

 _Devin checked his ammo after firing again, and leaned his head on the steep slope of the earth. He didn't favor this cover but the shelf in the slope of hill was all they had between them and the base,"You know I gotta agree with ya, Razz. She's right. We gotta retreat to the base!"_

 _A few more grenades pop off, by the third grenade a hideous shriek ripped through the air. "RETREAT!" Rapid gunfire filled the space between Devin's commands, "RETREAT!"_

 _Michael barrel rolled over them down from the steep slope,rolled himself into a kneeling position to fire,"THEY'RE ON US!" and he concentrated fire dead ahead. Kyle came in running down from the slide of the slope, firing while on his way down._

" _RETREAT! RETREAT!" Devin demanded from his team, now that they were regrouped they could cover each other on the way to the Weyland-Marine base. Artemis checked over her shoulder and pinpointed the enemy's location and launched 3 more grenades into their paths and bolted. "COVER!" The crew bolted forward off the shelf of the slope and skidded down the rest of the slope into the valley._

 _The forest was dense with trees, but the vegetation was low, thin and relatively easy to run through. They kept each other in sight until the enemy overlapped their position. Shrieks and cries filled the air followed by intermittent rapid gunfire, and Razza yelled as he was pinned on his back by a snarling, black, oversized, four legged serpent._

" _RAZZ!" Artemis was closest behind him and was his cover, and Michael figured it must have dropped from one of the evergreen trees otherwise it would have taken her if it was on the ground. She darted towards him, two blades on both arms cutting their way out of her skin. "THE TREES! THE TREES! THEY'RE FUCKING CLIMBERS!"_

 _Michael was about to give them cover fire when he glanced up and saw the shadow of a creature in the trees and released his fire on it before it came down. He rolled out of the way in time of it's collapse to the ground in a heap of blackness. It was in this moment he was thankful they were still in twilight for if it was nightfall he could have met his end. He looked back to Razz and Artemis and before he could do anymore to help them, he saw more creatures of the dark coming out from the trees._

Artemis looked over at Michael, he was reliving THAT memory, it showed in his face. She looked over the crew in the room, and to her brother who tossed a image-pod on the table. It righted itself and softly hummed as the magnetic particles spewed out to form a living image of the city, of an old industrial area long since abandoned. The satellite imagery pulled itself into the alley of the old warehouse against the new, heavy populated buildings behind it. Tall, skinny structures built like a maze through the old industrial area. Seeing that made her also remember those woods that were also running through Michael's head.

 _The creature hissed at her, pulling away from chewing on Razz's arms that were covered in rock granite skin, one of his mutant abilities. Despite his unique skin, he was barely keeping it from biting his face, snapping towards his eye. "THE TREES!" The rest of the crew repeated, the message now clear to all. Artemis stabbed the eyeless creature in the head with her blades. They topple down over, Razz rolls back on to his feet and fires his 50 caliber rifle at a new creature coming after Artemis, providing her with cover. Her long, strawberry blonde braid was the only discernible thing in the rolling mess as she tumbled down the slope with the creature, taking her far from the crew. Once they stopped she wrested her blades from the oblong head of the creature followed by a sharp hiss and she thought it was still alive. "What the fuck!?" Artemis realized quickly that acid oozed from the creature and she flung the blood like acids from her adamantium blades and wiped them on the ground. She saw that the acid had ate through the grenade belt she yet held in her fist. It had eaten away at the pins and into the grenades. She threw the belt, but a moment too late._

The video of the drone played on from the pod, swooping into the old warehouses for shipments of fresh seafood that were long forgotten. However, it didn't display emptiness or abandoned equipment but a goo from the ceilings. More of this goo resin appeared when the drone shared it's journey to the lower lever of the facility, covering the walls and floors. Luckily, the drone was a hover and would not have made it through otherwise.

It was unlike any of them had ever seen, the substance turned the facility into an alien cave. As the hovering drone traveled further, it grew darker and the temperature read 90 degrees Fahrenheit and the moisture in the air increased on the read out. The drone switched to thermal. An audible hiss cracked the silence of the video, and a red hot image appeared. A long oblong head, defined skinny figure, crawling on the wall, a long tail and a sudden launch of the creature towards the drone and the image scattered into a cluster of floating magnetic dust. The General rewound it using his hands and paused it where the creature was close and about to bite. A large mouth encompassed a smaller one that lurched out towards the drone. The room was silent and no one looked away from the image.

 _An ear piercing, high pitched sound woke her, and the ground felt as if it was shaking. Artemis groaned and rolled over to start getting up. The pain was unrelenting and took her breath away. She looked at the source of the pain and saw numerous amounts of shrapnel in her legs, splattered in the acid blood. When she reached for them her arms and right hand stung and she saw more shrapnel embedded there too. The healing factor was working against the acid, preventing further damage but unable to surpass it to push the shrapnel from her bones and muscles. Artemis knew she had to pull the shrapnel to heal, and she didn't know how much time she had to do it._

 _Her adrenaline was pumping fast, and she saw a downed tree from the blast and thought it good cover until backup arrived. She grabbed for her communicator on her belt but was met with a sizzling zap. The acid blood from the creature managed to destroy it at some point in their tumble, and she ripped it away with her blades, unable to retract them because of how deep the shrapnel embedded into her bone. Artemis painstakingly managed stump over to the down tree and rolled herself over it's skinny trunk and crawled her way into the dense fir branches. She didn't know what they were but she needed a chance to pull the shrapnel._

 _Another hiss announced the presence of a new black shadow, climbing down the tree above as if a monkey. Though she struggled to stand, she would fight on her feet. Being prone was asking for an quick death without a long range weapon. Once she managed to stand between the branches, almost as if they had become thick bushes on the ground, the creature had landed just outside of the foliage. She expected instant attack but it seemed to be measuring her up or studying her, just as she was trying to study it in the twilight of the night._

 _Artemis steadied herself, endorphins kicking in and adrenaline pumping. She heard a growl emmet from the creature and it lunged forward. Arms raised, Artemis bent her knees ready to jump when it was hung in midair, a long acid-bloodied blade sticking through it and it screeched at the distorted figure below it. The black serpent was flung off to the side and she saw more of the distorted figure, and two yellow eyes flashed. She froze, unsure of who or what saved her ass, and if it was going to be friend or foe._

 _A screech ripped through the sound of the now distant gunfire, making her cringe, almost sounding like a soft pattering in comparison. She saw the distorted figure jump back into the trees, and stayed unmoving, waiting for the creatures that soon dropped from the trees, all focused on her. Artemis saw enough of them to see they had no eyes at all, anywhere, and their sight must be sonar or heat related. Neither one of those sound good to experiment with but knowing she hadn't moved or made a sound, it was likely heat based. They were taking their time, almost as if waiting for something until the song of a blade rang through the air, decapitating 3 of the 4. The remaining one shrieked at their fall and turned it's back to Artemis looking for the culprit._

 _The distorted figure began to take form, partly obscured by the tree it was behind, as the bladed disc was captured by a large, clawed hand, and appeared to have a lizard like coloration and patterning to the skin. The black, armored creature lunged before the image of the warrior was made fully. Artemis stepped back onto the trunk, looking around, thinking of a daring leap when something smacked the side of her face and began wrapping around her neck. Partially blinded by whatever webbed digits that were on her face, she grabbed at what was around her neck, feeling as if it was some kind of hard skinned snake. The digits grabbed onto her head, the sharp ends pricking her skin and began moving around like a spider over the rest of her face. Taking the risk, and forcing herself not to shake from the panic, she sliced the snake like being from her neck. She pulled the two squirming parts and studied it briefly before she flung the two parts opposite each other and stabbed the reddish brown webbed digit spider. It was like the flesh tone ones they burned earlier, with all the eggs, but looked bigger, stronger, and quite possibly more dangerous._

 _The sounds of distant gunfire still carried in the air as she took a deep breath from the close call. She then looked for the armored black creature and who or what belonged to the hand of the disc blade. The alien creature was dead but the figure was not in site. A clicking sound was her only warning when she turned around and was grabbed by the jaw. She let out a small gasp, startled by the hand of a being she could still not make out. This being's large hand eclipsed her jaw, the long, clawed fingers wrapped around the back of her neck and the thumb pricking her ear._

 _The distortion faded away with a seemingly electrical crackle in a soft tone, revealing first the arm of the hand that held her. The fuzzed electrical lines revealed an armored gauntlet on the forearm, to skin covered in a broad netting, black speckles over ivory skin, almost solid black in the areas that sun and wind might hit most, and a metal pauldron and something like a gun on a left shoulder, leading to an armored chest and black ribbed neck gasket._

 _She waited to see this face, of this being, before she took any action. Though the grasp was firm it was not choking her. The electricity continued to fizzle away, revealing his torso, a metal mask and perhaps dreads that she saw. Upon closer inspection, what she thought dreads were more of tendrils, not unlike that of a bearded lizard but much longer, thicker and similar to hair. His mask was of a gun metal gray that matched his armor. Only the mask had more than normal battle damage, it had a foreign language, unlike any she had ever seen. The rest of the image fizzled out to reveal a metal codpiece, some type of a leather belt and what looked to be equipment packs attached to it. More metal armor covered black speckled ivory legs over muscular legs, just as the rest of him._

 _In this moment she realized that as much as she was looking him over he was doing the same with her as well. This made her feel vulnerable in someway, because for some reason when he was done looking at her he tilted his head to the side with a little clatter sound coming from behind the mask. His grip loosened, and he released her, gently as if she was suddenly fragile and could break._

 _Artemis realized she was able to be standing face-to-face with him because he was on the ground, and her on the trunk. Artemis figured he must be at least 2 feet taller than her judging by how high the tree trunk was off the ground, resting on it's own broken limbs and branches. The warrior, after what seemingly had taken a long breath, took a step back out of arm's reach of her. She was unsure what to do or say when a screech came from the trees once again._

 _The alien warrior turned, the tendrils whipping around, and he body slammed the black shadow dropping from the trees. Two more dropped on either side of him and Artemis lept from her position and went after the one on the right. They fought them, side by side, the battle was fast and a mess and she collapsed after the last one dropped._

 _The alien warrior examined her; a tear in her pant leg revealed a main artery in that had been severed by the serpent's tail embedded in her leg. She had been fighting the acid in her system, her mutant ability was what kept her going for so long. He sliced the pant leg off of her, tossing it as if it was a used tissue. How she felt vulnerable earlier didn't compared to now when he cut the rest of the pant leg off as high as it could go and proceeded to pour a pale white liquid over her entire thigh, her legs, hand and arms. It burned and she stifled a scream and let out a small whimper instead._

 _Everything fell still and silent for a moment. He pulled the piece of tail from the top of her thigh, and compressed the artery it with his free hand. While doing this, he snapped a black claw off of his adorning belt, full of other strange claws, bones, and other things she couldn't identify. She sat up and he gestured to the markings of his mask, and then to her. As if clear as sign language, she nodded, and he donned her with the mark of his kind by dipping the claw into the acid of the tail._

" _ARTEMIS!"_

Kyle shifted uncomfortably in his seat, the crew not excited about this assignment together at all. The seriousness was quite clear and the problem was already growing too big. He rubbed his temple, feeling the animosity in the room and knew he would be getting the short end of the stick all because of how the last mission they had together went. Artemis still held it against him but she didn't understand; her husband was pinned by the Xenomorph and surrounded by more. He was a goner either way, and his ass would have been dead too if he went back for him.

" _ARTEMIS! Artemis, WHERE ARE YOU!?" Devin shouted for his wife, "Artemis… ARTEMIS!"_

 _Kyle kept his gun at the ready, prepared to cover Devin. The gunfire had ceased, the creatures were absent. He didn't like Devin shouting out into the woods, but was insistent that no one gets left behind, dead or alive. Whatever, as long as all those hideous creatures were extinct and they got to that base, he'd be glad._

" _ARTEMIS! RESPOND_!"

 _Devin long since given up trying to contact her on the communicator. All communications had been down for the last hour or so due to some interference. He finally picked up a trail, able to see in ways others couldn't. The aura trail as he called it. It was one they hadn't tracked yet and he felt they were getting close. They came upon a blast area, where it looked like the rest of her grenades went off simultaneously. "Artemis," He whispered to himself. Kyle circled the perimeter of the blast, finding her partially disintegrated communicator._

" _Devin!" Kyle motioned him over and Devin examined the scene, whatever was here was now goo and indiscernible mush. He looked to the fallen fir tree, evidence of broken branches unrelated to it's fall. On the other side of the tree's trunk, in the branches he could see where someone was standing, and sliced clean off a few branches, perhaps in some kind of fight. A faint whimper caught his attention, and he paused, signaling for Kyle to as well._

 _They stood quietly, the woods silent, the wind made no presence, then he signaled them to continue down the slope. Kyle was annoyed, and felt it redundant to keep looking when they could have simply gone back to the base and sent out dogs. Devin was too much of a worry wort to leave the woods, and Kyle was tired of it, and tired of this mission. It wouldn't be twilight for much longer, soon the sun would begin it's sunrise process. A hiss interrupted their little rescue mission, Kyle's brown eyes widened and he spoke under his breath;_

" _I thought we got 'em all!"_

 _Devin double checked his ammo, "That's why it's better to know than to think."_

 _Kyle yelled and opened fire as the creature dropped from the trees, followed by another, and another, until five surrounded them._

Michael shifted his gaze between Kyle and Artemis, and back to the magnetically formed image of the Xenomorph. Michael knew Kyle's thoughts, his face always gave him away, but not Artemis's. She stared straight into it, arms crossed below her breasts, her face had no expression but her body language was speaking for her. He knew the memories were running through her head, but there was a part of the story she never shared, that he speculated on far too much back then. He noticed the Royal Face Hugger's tail was attached to her motorcycle keys. What was she thinking? What is the missing piece to her story?

 _Artemis snapped her head towards the direction of gunfire and bolted to her feet, only to stumble and fall. She moaned in discomfort, her legs had become almost entirely numb as well as her arms from her body fighting the acid. The masked alien no longer had time to provide first aid. He picked her up and carried her a few steps over to a tree she could sit at and lean on. The base was nearly visible through the trees now. A crackling voice recording played; "Stay. Too soon…. die in honor." Though it was staticky, it sounded like a man's voice, a Japanese accent. She was surprised and confused; was he some kind of super soldier mutant Samurai from Japan? Even this technology he was using was beyond Japan's she believed._

" _Who are you?"_

 _The warrior slowly turned his head, her vibrant green eyes seeming to pierce through the eye lenses of his bio mask. He made a few clicking sounds, a type of soft growl came through, and a voice deep and gravely told her, "Keli-Mauv." Then tilted his head, pointed to her new mark, "Anaa-Hata."_

 _He dropped the tail of the snake-like spider creature onto her lap and the camouflage fizzled over him. She watched the distortion slip into the trees, up the steep slope until he was gone. Artemis let out a deep sigh, trying to keep calm because she couldn't help them or herself for that matter, and picked up the tail piece. At some point he had neutralized the acid and hardened it into what seemed to be a reddish, brown trophy for her. Part of her wondered what it really looked like in finer detail. This she felt she needed to hide to keep, and clumsily let loose her braid and struggled but successfully tied it in the thick layers of her strawberry blonde hair, letting it be curly and fluff up. She looked down towards the base and saw Razz's heavy built frame leading the way to her, Marines behind him. The gunfire ceased as Kyle came tumbling down the slope, passed Artemis and towards Razz._

"I know we are all on the same page about this," her brother looked at each one of them, "These fuckers need to die and it needed to happen yesterday!" General Howlette rose from his position of leaning over the table and walked around the conference table, taking a seat at the head of the table, sitting by his sister.

"I want you all to work together on this, I know it's been a while for you all and you have your… differences but this needs to be handle. Weyland lost control of a Xenomorph hive, and when I say lost control, they were sabotaged from the inside. We're taking this as an act of terrorism. Weyland also has lost all Yautja technology and weapons, and that's not saying much since they had so little and haven't been able to reverse engineer anything successfully.

"You'll have our latest humvee X, and two bikes to escort. Arrive together at the Rendezvous point, isolate and quarantine the area. Call in the battalion when this is complete so they can set up a defense parameter. Questions?"

Razz sat up and place his granite textured hands on the black marble table. It's dark, glossy appearance reminded him of his first face to face encounter of the Xenos. With this crew right here, short one all seeing eye Devin, they survived it, they won. He felt a bitterness about the shadiness around Devin's death. He avoid recalling those memories, but this brought it to the surface; a Xenomorph in his face.

 _Razz climbed up the slope, the Marines behind him and Artemis slumped against a tree in his sights. He noticed a distortion in front of her, and at the moment thought her was seeing things from exhaustion. The sun was nearing it's rise. Gunfire going off in the distance until he saw Kyle tumbling down the slope and the firing ceased. It felt like he was climbing backwards, he couldn't there fast enough. Michael came darting in from the side, covered in ice, his icy trail behind him. Razz called out;_

" _Where's Dev-"_

 _A deep, bass resounding boom shocked the air and trees around them. Michael created an ice wall to shield them, Razz turned and raised the earth around the base, Kyle grabbed Artemis and morphed into a horse to carry her down. The blast disintegrated everything before the ice wall, though it didn't quite reach all the way to the wall it but the residual winds from the blast took down several trees._

 _Razz took a deep breath;_

"When do we leave!?"


	4. Chapter 3

Hello everyone of you awesome readers of mine! I thought I would drop in a note and apologize if I miss a few things in editing, life has been so busy lately but I want to get this story written so badly! I'm set into a new routine and I hope you all enjoy my stories. There is another story I'm working on that involves and new kind of race that will be intertwined in the beloved Predator / Yautja. I promise to keep striving to improve my writing.

Happy reading! 

\|/ 

Alone in the women's locker room, Artemis stared at the black chest before her, all edges sharp, slick and uninviting. The box was big enough that she could fold herself up inside of it if she wanted to. She huffed and put her thumb on the center of the big box. Cleaning up after Weyland-Yutani was something she did not miss. Yet as many times as they've screwed up, they wouldn't stop trying to create weapons from them. The box opened at her touch and she lifted the lid away. Inside was a black suit, made to fit her every curve. Gazing at the it she meticulously looked over the details; teflon coated Kevlar weave covered in pieces of Xenomorph exoskeleton in sizes varying from as small as a pea in the most pliant areas, in sizes up to as large as the palm of her hand in non flexing places with a inner layer zipper that was slightly difficult to slide up into place, but it's security in leak proof nature was worth it.  
Silently, she slipped into the acid proof suit over her athletic wear, conforming to her body, made for her, and even two individual slots that allowed her blades to come through. Artemis thought of the crew getting ready, going through the same process, chatting maybe, or silent and deep in their thoughts as she. She did not want to think of how old her daughter would have been now, but maybe she would have really been retired if she had made it. Artemis shook the thought from her head. This is why she kept attached, to keep this under control, to do this duty to the mark given to her. She scooped up the equally matching gloves, helmet, and a bio helmet that was heavily influenced by the Yautja's, from what little Weyland-Yutani gained before another facility was wiped out.  
Her footsteps echoed in the empty hall on the way to the armory. The floor looked as cold as the air felt. It was always so cold to her in these buildings, the walls seemed to radiate their coldness even though they were a blinding white reflecting the L.E.D. lights shining furiously upon them. The black doors seemed to scream their presence. All designed for their best defense against the heat seeing creatures if they were ever to make it in here, or any other base for that matter. The doors swung themselves outward upon her approach, the cameras having already pre-identified her, and without slowing her pace, she stepped into the armory. The whole crew was there, minus her beloved Devin. She looked over all the weaponry, all Yautja and Xeno inspired, lacking the real technology behind the Yautja. Artemis admired the Yautja's tenacity to keep it out of human hands as WWIII was a perfect example as to why. Looking over a the crew, picking their weapons and chatting away, felt good to have them on this mission, for the most part. They were ready this time, and they would destroy all the Xenos. She couldn't help but feel she was on the wrong side of things, or that something wasn't right about all this but her visions did not cater to her curiosities or questions. They came when they wished with whatever message they so choose; a power she longed to control.  
They left the armory and headed to the garage. The garage was located between the ground level and basement of the building. Once there, they split themselves between the Hummer X and two bikes. The X model sat aggressively, waiting, covered in it's Adamantium armored panels shining like a mirror with charcoal gray vibranium wheels wrapped in an equally aggressive treaded rubber. Camouflage was not the goal with the hummer, but to be indestructible and screaming that fact to the world, as in to say "Who dares to challenge me!?" The motorcycles sat in the same manner, slick, sporty, influenced in the same design with headlights like the angered eyes of a monster, longing for blood and death.  
Staffed thickly with security, always inconspicuously, the building masqueraded itself as a military credit union. In truth, it was the Operations Center for Weyland-Yutani's mercenaries, all mutants, who all were tied into the military, in all forms; retirees, inactive, injured, and even the already honorably discharged. Artemis never initially was a Weyland-Yutani mercenary, she had always been a Marine for the Elite Forces. The New Zealand mission was the first official collaboration of Weyland and the Elite Forces, before the merge with Yutani. She never imagined this, she always believed that the Elite Forces would be her permanent career until the collaboration. Now she was tied in, the Elite Forces engulfed in Weyland-Yutani, playing by their rules.  
Artemis would always think back to that fateful mission, the day her life changed. Many things could have gone differently, but the one that she questioned was as to why they used adamantium instead of another metal. Did it really affect the unborn child or was it her own body? Something she had to make herself come to terms with, even though the question never went away but neither did the off putting feeling of working as their mercenary. There was no better way to stay on top of all the Xeno breakouts and inside "facility failures" than to remain on the inside. Maybe the day of reckoning would come, when the truth gives way like a mountain rising crime a volcano, but that day was not today. It was time to focus on the mission, her objective, their jobs.  
Kyle and Michael would be in the X model, Razz and her on the bikes. Michael was an excellent marksman, the top of his class. He longed for a family, a wife, but his luck with the ladies was only temporary good luck. They would always start off amazingly, each seemingly more promising than the last but none seemed to be able to handle his unquenchable burning desire for travel. Which was ironic given his powers of generating ice and manipulating it.  
As for Kyle, Artemis didn't keep in touch, and made it point to ignore his attempts at communication with her. She held it against him that Devin was dead. He made the mistake of lying to her but her powers worked in her favor that day when she grabbed his wrist and saw the vision of him running instead of shooting the Xenos tackling her husband and is desire for her, wishing he had the chance first. Kyle also could have transformed into a large beast a sustained some injury and pulled Devin out, but he was a coward. He would never have the chance, and she held him accountable for it but the court decided otherwise.  
Razz's name was actually Richard, but gained his nickname through his practical jokes playing around with the ground and soil, his ability to manipulate the earth at his will. His favored joke was convincing others than he was crumbling into the ground, become one with the thing he could control and his skin being able to turn to a granite like stone was all the more convincing. He was a married man, with several children with his one wife, his one love. Artemis always saw her and Devin in the same way as Razz and his wife, their love unrivaled, true, and once in a lifetime.  
As for Artemis, her priority was caring for her best friend, never giving another man the time of day. She did not believe that she would ever find that love ever again and she was at peace with that. Being alone was beneficial because she couldn't see any other way for her life to be after losing Devin and her daughter. Both deaths untimely, both unfair, both devastating and leaving her to question fate why.

In the open air, the sun shone brightly on the still beautiful day, but the dark ominous reality twisted it into something of a horrid day. The squad zipped down the highway, leading them into the inner city, the bikes in the lead, clearing way for the oversized X model. A sonic boom triggered Artemis to look over at Razz, and he to her, and looking back over their shoulders, double checking that the rear view read out was working in the visor and then they began radioing one another.

"What was that? Over." Artemis glanced at Razz.

"We don't have any jets cleared for the air zone today." Michael hesitated briefly, "That couldn't be what I think it is, is it? Copy."

"Nah, we would have seen it if it was a Yautja bomb." Responded Razz, "Uh, copy."

"Well then wha-AAAAH!"

Artemis flew off the road with the bike, along with Razz. The hummer followed suit, as heavy as it was, it skidded over the road and rolled like a tumbleweed, other traffic also rolling, the 4 lanes of traffic rolling into one. Dust flew up into the air like a blinding desert sandstorm, visibility none. A loud creaking moan came from the Hummer X as is rolled slowly back up onto it's four wheels, a center of gravity balance mechanism to thank for that. Kyle and Michael shared shocked looks.

"You good man?" Michael said while rubbing her jarred elbow.

"Yah," Kyle tugged at the seatbelt that didn't give way, "I'm good, locked in a little too tight, haha."

"Hah," Michael tapped his ear bug, "Artemis, Razz, do you copy?"

Silence.

"Artemis, Razz, DO YOU COPY?"

Static filled the radio, followed by breaks of silence.

"Shit," Michael looked out into the dust storm.

"I'm going out." Kyle unbuckled.

"Kyle, no. You'll be blinded and we don't know what kinda bomb that was."

Kyle settled back into his seat and began testing the radio frequency, forcing himself not to lose control. He thought that if he could save her, maybe then she could forgive him and love him half as much as he loved her. Michael checked the live satellite camera that was now locked into the area east of them. The imagery showed the topical view of the aftermath of an atom bomb. The city was in the lower air blast radius, collapsing many buildings. As for the squad, they were on the cusp of the blast, the thermal radiation blast absorbed by radiation absorber towers built following WWIII. Lucky, fate or coincidence, Kyle was grateful to be unharmed.

"Radiation levels are minimal. The towers are doing their jobs."

"Uh, Kyle…"

"Yeah, Michael?"

"You don't think they got crushed or-"

Kyle cut him off, "DON'T say it." He took in a deep breath, "They should be fine, maybe a little banged up... The dust is clearing."

"Irchk-icht… Copy? Michael Urich, do you copy!?"

Razz's voice flowed through the static, deep and booming bringing a form of relief between them. Michael and Kyle both sighed in relief, "Michael here buddy! We're glad to hear your voice. How's Artemis? Over."

"I-I'm not sure where she is. I was pinned down by the bike and I'm guessing she either is too and slid off further than me…. Over." Razz sounded shaken but he was holding his composure quite well.

"We will keep looking. There's gonna be a lot of cars out here and people but she should stick out like a sore thumb with that adamantium. Over." Kyle replied, his anxiety spiking, hardly able to hold his composure.

"Let's use our thermal vision. Radiation levels are so low now they barely register. Man, I love those towers!"

Michael began to fidget. All they had to do was pinpoint Artemis and the crew could be regrouped. While they searched the area, helping others along their way he communicated with the General. The location on the Xenos remained untouched and they would have to still complete the mission. The National Guard quarantined and evacuated the area and remained on standby.

"Get to Artemis and get out there!" Her brother was angst, "That bomb is a warning strike from South Japan. They're really serious about that new island west of Hawaii. From my understanding they're in negotiations and we need to complete the mission, it is PRIORITY."

*

Wailings of a siren woke Artemis. The high pitched sound almost deafening. As she opened her eyes the light blinded her, making her wince in pain. She hated that sound and groaned in an effort to help drown it out. The siren faded in and out and her ears hurt from it's constant fluctuation. She lifted her arms but they didn't respond and growled in annoyance and frustration. Forcing her eyes open she lifted her head groggily, and adjusted her eyes to the blinding light. Ivory white blankets draped over her, like rolling hills covered in snow. Lights flickered in spurts like the lightning in a storm.  
The medical room was plain and small, no room for chairs, only the bare necessities. Artemis looked around, the walls all stainless steel, not even a window, just one door on hinges, shut, with seams so tight that a razor blade might barely wedge in the gap. She saw the machines to her left that monitored her pulse, blood pressure, all her vitals and fed a line to her _somewhere_ for intravenous infusion, or IV. Her head was still foggy from being under. The fluctuations in the power to the room triggered the machine to cease delivery of the fluids, but didn't stop monitoring her or her baby. She breathed almost in a way of relief, the surgery had been successful. Any moment the nurse would be checking in, her vitals giving away the change of her pulse now elevated, and obviously awake.

Slowly, Artemis felt the drug wearing off. They had used an anesthetic to keep her under but no pain killers due to the fact it would risk harming the baby. She felt the pain of the incisions, every stitch that they had made. She shuddered at the thoughts, the shock of the news; losing her Devin, and gaining their child. Such sorrow and joy in one moment, perhaps better delivered by one of her crew and not a nurse, maybe even another Marine. She had to get the whole story so she tried again to lift her arms. They responded, heavy slowly, but she could feel the incisions underneath the bandages healing. Artemis laid her head back and felt around for where they ran the IV. They didn't use either arm for they had to operate on them tp pull the shrapnel. She was worried though, something felt off, like her bones were cold in her arms and legs. Perhaps it was the chill in the air from the AC or the drug wearing off because it was only the lower half of all her limbs that were chilled. How long had she been under? She found the line, the lights flickering obnoxiously like a strobe light, and decided that maybe she should hit a call button for the nurse but that was feudal, for there wasn't one.  
Grumbling about the hospital lacking something so basic, she found where the line led and it was crossed over to her right leg on the inside. Artemis removed the blankets and they fell silently to the floor, thin and light. No wonder she felt such a chill but at least they gave her three blankets instead of one. Her arms were feeling more cold as she worked on peeling away the overly sticky tape holding the IV in place. Once done, she pulled the line and placed her hand over the stinging, bleeding hole while it healed. Her strawberry blonde locks fell into her line of vision and she tossed her head back to move them out of her way when something hard smack against her back. Smiling, she slid her free hand into her hair and found her little souvenir. They hadn't noticed it in her hair all this time, for however long it was. She left it tied up into her hair until she could figure what was going on. _Maybe the generators are struggling to keep up._ The mutant woman checked to see if she had fully healed on that spot and she had, pitching away the IV line.

Artemis lifted her hand away and looked overall the bandages. The bandages covered her elbows to her wrist on one hand and fingers on the others. They seemed to have been changed recently for very little blood was on them. On her legs, they wrapped from the ankles up to the knee on the left but over the knee on the right. In the flickering of the light she managed to start unwrapping her arm when the door clicked open, out towards the hall. The schematic for this place was built to make each room impervious to a break in when the door was locked in case of an attack on the inside. Lights flickered as it opened into the dark hallway, and then proceeded to shut itself. Artemis sat straight up, "Hey! Wait!"  
Only the noise of the flickering of the lights responded to her. She huffed continued unwrapping her arm, deciding to leave the room once she was done with this if no one came back. Maybe they were discussing the things that had happened during surgery she hypothesized. A whiff of the outside world dance by her nose, and a faintly reptilian like smell. She froze and checked the room, already priorly established that there was no window and the vents did not have a fresh air return system in case of radiation blasts or potential wildfires. Her senses were nearly back to their full ability. She slowed her breathing, softly taking in deep breaths and releasing them, listening. Her heartbeat, the unborn's, and an irregular heartbeat or maybe it was two hearts beating, or a larger heart, or…She gasped.  
Despite the flicker of the lights she was able to see the distortion right next to her by the bed. It made a clicking sound and the distortion became the familiar warrior she met earlier in the woods. Many thoughts ran through her mind. So much she wanted to ask and the one thought that was strongest came out first.

"Where's Devin?"

He tilted his head to the side, her words played back to her:

"Where's Devin? -Devin?"

"You don't know who that- right." She sighed thinking, "Was there another human out there surrounded by those black creatures?"

He clicked and chittered, seemingly to be translating her words and looked her over. Artemis stilled herself, so badly waiting for a glimmer of hope to come from him. His black clawed finger traced over her right arm and down to her wrist while he played back phrases to her.

"Human- surrounded- You," he lifted her arm, her wrist in the palm of his hand, "-black creatures?"

He pinched the inside of her wrist and her two blades ejected out. She gasped in surprise that he knew what part of the nerve and ligaments to press on. It had taken her hours of research to understand how they worked and he figured it out in mere moments. He released the pinch on her wrist and her blades went back inside her skin. The masked warrior continued his broken phrases to complete his sentence;

"Know- Devin?"

"What about the explosion? How did you survive?"

"Explosion?" He gestured to himself, "We're not alone!," played now a male voice, "Now- alone!"

"There were two of you!?"

He nodded once softly.

"Are those things why you came?"

The large masked warrior lowered his head and looked down to his gauntlet as he raised it up. He tapped on a button and it flipped open similarly to a laptop. Artemis could see bright red symbols in a foreign language that was the same kind as to his mask and like the mark he gave her. In a couple taps an infrared 3 Dimensional hologram image displayed the entire facility. To her, it was almost like looking at the complete blueprints of the building as a red see through model, however, life forms were depicted moving around in the structure. Several life forms were in the level above them but there were more. She perked up and scooted closer to see them clearly. He tapped another button and it zoomed to their location and she could make out their forms in the room, despite the still flickering lights. Another tap and it moved to a lower level of the base, further below than she had been and she could see the familiar serpent like creatures moving around, and only two military personnel still standing. Her gaze switched from that to his mask, which was already staring at her. Was he watching my reaction this whole time? The foreign warrior lowered his gauntlet, undoubtedly here to complete his mission, she knew that she had to help him. She rose from the bed, her legs feeling tight but functional, never breaking his gaze in her back open hospital gown. His job was not done.

"I need armor, Keli-Mauv."

The light was soft and steady, the silence eerie. She turned her head slowly, scouting with her eyes of the mess before her. Many people laid motionless on the ground, mangled, twisted, and unrecognizable. Others stood or huddled outside of their overturned cars. Emergency personnel sweeping through, guiding people to the rescue caravan. Each and every person had to be scanned in precaution of radiation exposure. Those who were, were escorted to the ambulances to be decontaminated and quarantined for up to a year until cleared. Artemis scanned herself and was not radiated.  
Her helmet complete it's self diagnostic and was ready to resume all operations. She flipped down her visor, switching to thermal, and rolled onto her back. The skies went from their bright blue to a yellow-orange hue, warmed by the bomb's impact upon the ground. Artemis hopped up and found the bike a few meters away, and in the distance behind it could make out the silhouette of the model X and the other bike. Static came in and she heard a familiar voice through it.

" Artem-cht, dt- you copy?"

"Michael, this is Artemis, and I copy, over."

The men cheered unanimously.

"We thought we lost you, Howlette." Razz said, the smile in his voice, "Glad we were wrong!"

She lifted the heavy bike with little effort, "You can't get rid of me that easily gentlemen."

"Wh-what happened to you out there Artemis?" Kyle stuttered, trying not to hesitate.

"Well," she sighed, "The blast from that bomb knocked me out and my helmet offline. Ran diagnostic, all is clear."

"Good deal," they were almost regrouped now, "You're brother said their taking care of the politics right now and we gotta complete our mission."

"Copy that. Let's go kill off those Xenos!" 


End file.
